toyota recall may affect vibes (article attached)

[jimincalif]

The Camry report said he was in the parking lot with both feet on the brakes and the car suddenly accelerated. If true, that's not a sticking pedal, that's a computer problem.OTOH, he could have had one foot on the gas. Some of us are old enough to remember when Audi was going thru this. After all the investigations were done, it was ruled "pedal misapplication", a politically correct way of saying driver error.Thre is no doubt something going on with these cars, but drivers have been misapplying pedals since day one, but now every one that is a Toyota will end up on the news.

[star_deceiver]

Pity you can only get the stick on one model of Camry.... another situation where the clutch could've saved the day.Quote, originally posted by jimincalif »The Camry report said he was in the parking lot with both feet on the brakes and the car suddenly accelerated. If true, that's not a sticking pedal, that's a computer problem.I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more stories like this... and in the end I can see all of us going for many dealer trips... maybe by the end we'll all get new everything-under-the-hood!!! (well, here's hoping anyways)

[vibolista]

I always knew that computers were evil entities and really wanted total world domination. That's how computers are going to do it, they are going to unintentionally run away with us.Any car, at any time, can have a mechanical hickup that can cause WOT, puting the driver, his passengers and and anyone around them in significant danger. The best thing a driver should have is knwoledge that allows quick reaction to mitigate the problem. If you can't get the car to slow down, push on the brakes, pop the transmission it into neutral, or should you prefer not to allow your engine to turn into useless shredded metal, simply turn the key off far enough to kill the engine. At the same time, try to safely get out of the way of traffic. Panic doesn't get any of that accomplished. Whatever the source of the problem that crops up when driving your car, knowing what to do will definitely speed your reactions, hopefully preventing a bad outcome. Stuff happens , usually at the worst place and time. I checked my floor mat and made sure it was properly secured to the floor hooks. Then I pushed the gas pedal by hand and looked at the clearances. There are a lot of things that could get under there to make the pedal stick. A rock that gets tracked into the car by a lugged winter book could fall in that space and cause a problem, a small toy, or any other foreign object. It doesn't have to be a part of the car or a mechanical fault.And by the way, I have the 1.8L so it would be pretty tough to acheive the "sudden acceleration" part. Might be more like a gentle surge of speed that continues a while longer than usual.

[Caretaker]

other than the "scare your pants off" factor, why do we care that the pistons go shooting out of our engines like bottle rockets when we put the car into neutral during a sudden acceleration event???? Aren't we all covered by warranty for up to 100,000 miles on the '09 and '10 vibes? I for one would not mind a little July 4th during the wintertime!!

[ponta2147]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »I always knew that computers were evil entities and really wanted total world domination. That's how computers are going to do it, they are going to unintentionally run away with us.This sounds like that Doctor Who episode with ATMOS. Anyone, anyone??

[Herb]

Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 »This sounds like that Doctor Who episode with ATMOS. Anyone, anyone??Anyone know when the new series will start with the Eleventh Doctor?

[MSAGRO]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »Ok, y'all... if your Vibe runs away and you're still in it, use your brakes and your ace in the hole... your key. Turn the motor off. In a panic situation, it's the simple solutions that are easiest to forget. If you have a manual and the engine gets stuck in the wide open throttle position, you can't really just push the clutch in... 'cause that will grenade your motor. Brakes should slow things down... but an engine with a stuck throttle will work against the brakes and if they fade, the engine will win. Turning the key to the off position will work great in all cases. Just be ready to handle a car that no longer has power steering or power brakes. NOT OFF! Put car in ACC mode. Turning the key to the off postion will lock the steering wheel. I can deal with harder braking and lack of power steering, but when it comes to not being able to steer the car at all, I would have a problem.FYI, y'all.

[Caretaker]

yes, DON'T turn off your key, for the sake of all of us who have families who want us to come home every evening. Just put the damn thing in neutral and steer and brake as usual should the car decide to accelerate out of control. As for Dr. Who, I initially though she wrote Mr. Atos, the librarian in Star Trek who sent those escaping their planet going supernova to safe passage. Caretaker must stay in the here and now; the here and now................

[ColonelPanic]

I would totally let it grenade. With an issue like this, I'd say that's going to be the manufacturer's problem to deal with, not mine. But it won't be running completely wide open in neutral, the rev limiter will still be there. You could probably run it like that until you could get pulled off the road to a safe place without it doing too much damage.My Vibe was sitting there bouncing off the rev limiter for a while when the transmission decided to no longer let it move forward. That engine had problems as it was, so if that didn't kill the piece of crap...